Rollin, Rollin..Ru-Ro

Yes, in the immortal words of Scooby, 'Ru-Ro'. Yesterday I was scheduled to ride for three hours. This time of year it's too darn cold to ride outside. I've got a trainer set up downstairs, and although it's probably easier in the basement I don't always feel like I get a good ride in. So I headed off to the local Y to get my bikin' in.

I was all set. A bag full of glucose tabs, jelly belly sport beans (cause I hardly ever use the glucose tabs) gatorade, and a few power bars. Of course I had my meter, strips, lancing device, Dexcom, extra infusion set (am I forgetting anything?) ah yes, the easy bake oven and kitchen sink.

I was surprised at how well the ride went the first two hours. I began at a pace a little over 20 mph and was able to maintain that pretty comfortably. I had about 8 grams of carb every 15 minutes or so and washed it down with a little water.

I must have gotten a little greedy with the carbs, because when i checked at 1hr 30 min I was up to 198 mg/dl. A good number when exercising, but i started out around 110 mg/dl so that means i was climbing. i questioned whether i should bolus or not, and decided the gym was the best place to do this - if i crashed at least it wouldn't be on the road. So i bolused 0.75u with my pump.
I really began to hammer the last hour, but with about 25 minutes to go I began to get sick of what i was doing. and for me - that's a sign I'm going low. I checked and low an behold, the crash wasn't coming - it already happened. I was 50 mg/dl.

After you bike for 2 1/2 hours and you need another, 1/2 hour, the last thing you want to do is get off, because the whole goal of riding long is to ride long. So I slowed the resistance down and began to force feed myslef the sport beans. I had two packs (25 grams in each pack) of them plus gatorade (22 grams) and after about 15 minutes i felt ok to pick it back up the last 10 minutes.

Not what i had hoped for, but you have to take this kind of stuff in stride; I'd much rather have this happen now then when I'm in a race. I still got the time in, and got to eat jelly belly sport beans - a pretty good training day after all.

RPE

Silly Brian, worried because he doesn’t have the cash to fix his heart rate monitor. Oh Boo-Hoo! Need a tissue!?

The Guru doesn’t fool with any of that technical gadgetry. No, not because I don’t know how to work it. Oh believe me, I know how to work it. I work it all the time. For example, the garage door would not open this weekend. But did I cry, No! Did I whine, No! I used my expansive knowledge on the subject, (and after that I asked my wife who told me to change the batteries. No wait a minute - you didn't hear that last part) and whal-lah! It opened (and closed). So stop teasing me and let me get on with what I was saying. What was I saying?

Oh yes, I don’t use a heart rate monitor because I don’t need to – I’m that good. (And I am, no really I am). I use something called the RPE, or the Rating of Preconceived Expedition. It’s a rating scale of how long I think I might work out later while driving in my Ford Expedition.

Huh? That’s not right? Ugh….. Well of course it’s not right! I was testing you! RPE actually stands for…..(frantically turning pages in a book)ugh….Hey is that a flying saucer in the window? Go look, go, go. I’ll wait for you (still franticly turning pages).

Oh well, must have been a kite, so let’s see what did you want to know? Oh yes. The RPE stands for the RATING OF PERCIEVED EXERTION. This is a way of gauging the intensity of your workout by a set of numbers, 1 to 10 for example. 1 would be easy, 10 would be the absolute hardest you can do.

The idea is to mix up your workouts so you’re not doing the same plane jane thing every day. One day you might exercise at a high level, like 8. The next day you might work out twice as long but only do a 4. This way you’re workouts stay fresh (and so do you).

The RPE is very similar to a heart rate monitor except it’s just more ‘geeky’. So be a geek like Brian if you want to. Or, you could be like the Guru and use the RPE.

Got Goals?

So what do you want out of a resolution? And more importantly, why haven’t you met it? The one thing that many of us have in common is our setting resolutions, but the other thing that is just as common is our lack of having a true goal.


Many of us would agree that goals are what makes the world go round. People who are considered successful may be successful at different things, but they all have similarities when it comes to goal setting. So let's get some goals!



These are the things I think you’re goals need to have:
· Specific
· Measurable
· Realistic
· Flexible


Goals need to be specific. I often hear that people want to be healthy. I wonderful goal of course, but boy, getting healthy can involve quite a few things. And although all of them are good, too many of them all at once is just as bad as having none at all. Can you juggle five tennis balls? Probably not. But can you ‘juggle’ one? That’s more likely – and you’ll have a better chance if you try to narrow down what it is you want to concentrate on.


Goals need to be measurable. Losing weight is great, but how much do you want to lose? There’s a big difference between 5 and 10 pounds, and one isn’t any better then the other. But you do need to know what it is you’re shooting for. This has everything to do with your motivation. If your goal is to lose 10 pounds and you’re lost 5 so far, you can think to yourself ‘I’m half way there’. If you don’t have a specific amount you have nothing to shoot for.


Goals need to be realistic. Now no one loves watching “the Biggest Loser’ more then my wife and I. It’s one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever seen. But there is NO WAY that any of us in the real world can accomplish what they do. That’s not to say we can’t do it – we just can’t in the time frame that they do. I never want to believe anything is out of reach, but I do believe theres a time and a place for everything (with a heavy emphasis on the time).


Lastly, goals need to be flexible. Life happens. (Actually I think its another word that’s supposed to be there – but this is a PG blog). You need to know that life gets in the way. A bone could break, a muscle could get pulled. A family member could get sick. A job could have longer hours at times. These are things you can’t change, and sometimes your goals need to change with them.